Government of South Korea and Samsung Developing Robots to Manufacture Consumer Electronics
October 19th, 2015Via: The Korea Herald:
South Korea’s government said Monday that it will join forces with Samsung Electronics Co. to develop precision manufacturing robots that could open new horizons for the local manufacturing sector.
The plan calls for 16.75 billion won ($14.8 million) worth of taxpayers’ money to be invested in the next three years to develop key components that can allow more robotic parts to be made in the country and lower overall prices of industrial machines, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said.
Developed robots can be used to make small products like mobile phones and consumer electronic products that require a high degree of precision, it said, adding all technology developed will be used to assist small and medium-sized robotics companies.
“Emphasis will be placed on developing precision speed reducers, motors, controllers and sensor encoders that are currently expensive and imported from abroad,” it said.
“Development of these parts should be completed by late 2018.”
Social Skills Are Last Line of Defense for Humans Seeking Work
October 19th, 2015Via: Bloomberg:
David Deming, an associate professor of education and economics at Harvard University, has found that jobs requiring social interaction are growing relative to work that doesn’t, and such skills may offer some protection from robotic takeover. Certain high-level professions that demand technical expertise and low-skill work that can be done by a greater share of the population often have in common a need for language, creativity, flexibility and physical dexterity, all things humans currently can do better than machines.
Almost all job growth since 1980 has been in work that is social-skill intensive, according to research from Deming published in August. Occupations that require high levels of analytical and mathematical reasoning but little social interface — for example statistical clerks and machinists — have “fared especially poorly,” he wrote. Meanwhile real wage growth has been strongest in jobs that require workers to have both math and social skills, such as registered nurses, designers and financial managers.
Workhorse Drone Company Tests Package Deliveries in Ohio
October 18th, 2015Via: USA Today:
A drone company is ready to start testing package deliveries in Ohio, but it’s not named Amazon or Google.
Workhorse Group Inc. and the University of Cincinnati have been working for years to launch drones from the top of delivery trucks that look like typical UPS or U.S. Postal Service box trucks.
On Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration granted the Workhorse team a two-year certificate to test drone deliveries at the Wilmington Air Park in Ohio, a closed airport on land five miles square. A drone nicknamed HorseFly is designed to launch off the top of Workhorse’s electric truck and drop a package right at a doorstep.
Van/Inverter/Freezer Story Updated
October 17th, 2015I’ve updated, Ask the Cryptogonners: Run Freezer Off Van and 12v Inverter?
If you don’t want to click through, the short answer is: Yes, it works great.
Feds Eye Pilotless Helicopters to Battle Wildfires
October 17th, 2015Via: AP:
The future of wildland firefighting launched Wednesday morning in Idaho.
A Lockheed Martin helicopter capable of flying autonomously with no human control did so as it scooped up water, dropped it on targets and delivered supplies to a distant ridge in a demonstration in front of top federal decision makers 20 miles east of Boise.
“Wildland fires are a huge problem, particularly here in the West,” said Mark Bathrick, director of the Interior Department’s Office of Aviation Services. “I’m a believer in the technology that could be put on other helicopters, that eventually could be put on fixed-wing aircraft — scoopers and air tankers.”
The Lockheed Martin K-MAX put through its paces on Wednesday completed seven tasks in about an hour and a half. A safety pilot was aboard, often holding his hands aloft to indicate to about 200 observers that he wasn’t using the controls.
Federal officials, who are also considering other aeronautic companies for the choppers, say having an optionally manned aircraft has advantages in that a pilot can fly it from fire to fire. A pilot could also fly it on fires during the day when conditions are safe.
The problem is that firefighting from the air stops at night or when smoke reduces visibility to unsafe distances.
The unmanned helicopter, though, has high-tech sensors allowing it to fly at night and in smoky conditions too dangerous for manned flights. That means at least tripling the amount of time aircraft could be attacking blazes.
“I’m highly confident (the helicopter) has the technology to be able to do that,” said Dan Spoor, Lockheed Martin’s vice president and general manager for Aviation and Unmanned Systems. “If they bring in unmanned aircraft, they’ll be able to do 24-7 flights. So it could be impressive in terms of helping fight fires.”
The K-MAX demonstrated Wednesday has three communication methods, using line of sight and two different satellite links. The craft can be remotely controlled, but it also flies autonomously after being told what to do.
U.S. Will Require Drones to Be Registered
October 17th, 2015Via: NBC:
The federal government will announce a new plan requiring anyone buying a drone to register the device with the U.S. Department of Transportation, NBC news has learned.
The government has been concerned about the rise in close calls between unmanned drones and aircraft flying into and out of some of the nation’s biggest airports. The plan is expected to be announced Monday.
More: Fortune: U.S. Government to Require That Hobbyists Register Their Drones
“Cured” Ebola Nurse in Critical Condition
October 16th, 2015Via: Independent:
The exact nature of Ms Cafferkey’s illness is not known, but experts have expressed shock at the severity of her condition.
Jonathan Ball, professor of molecular virology at the University of Nottingham, said the news was “frankly staggering.”
“I am not aware from the scientific literature of a case where Ebola has been associated with what we can only assume as life threatening complications after someone has initially recovered, and certainly not so many months after,” he said.
Health authorities have emphasised that the risk to the general public remains low. However 58 people who had been in close contact with Ms Cafferkey are being monitored by Health Protection Scotland. 25 have been vaccinated using the jab successfully trialed earlier this year in Guinea.
Battelle DroneDefender
October 15th, 2015Via: Battelle Institute:
The Drone Papers
October 15th, 2015Via: The Intercept:
The Intercept has obtained a cache of secret documents detailing the inner workings of the U.S. military’s assassination program in Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia. The documents, provided by a whistleblower, offer an unprecedented glimpse into Obama’s drone wars.
Oakland: Outlaw Shipping Container Community, Containertopia
October 15th, 2015And in Texas, instant slums.
Via: sfist:
“It’s pretty much my dream post-apocalyptic cyberpunk setup,” says Luke Iseman near his 160-square-foot box home. With a camp stove and a fridge “that’s a really simple hack,” his miniature shipping container nightmare chamber sits alongside 11 others in a warehouse at an undisclosed location in Oakland. File under: Apartment Sadness?
Bloomberg reports that the 31-year-old cool guy Wharton graduate has been chased from two other locations by the authorities. But, like an idiot, Iseman has no plans to give up. “I’d rather ask forgiveness than ask permission,” the entrepreneur says in high Silicon Valley fashion.
Iseman rakes in $1,000 a month for each of the 11 structures docked in the 17,000-square-foot warehouse he rents for $9,100. His tenants include a Facebook engineer, a SolarCity programmer, and a bicycle messenger. This, as Iseman calls it, is “Containertopia.”
